First Trailer for ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ Debuts…And It’s Delightfully Strange

As per our earlier coverage, the first full trailer for Guardians of the Galaxy premiered tonight, and it is strange. Pretty wonderfully strange. For those suffering from Marvel fatigue, Guardians may be just what the doctor ordered. One part Star Wars, one part Men In Black, if the trailer is to be believed there’s something very unlike Thor: The Dark World‘s initial foray into the cosmic part of Marvel’s stable of characters.

Marvel films have been no stranger to humor, but the Guardians trailer takes on an almost self-aware, irreverent tone we haven’t seen in any of its other superhero fare – all without ever breaking the illusion of the film’s reality to its characters (John C. Reilly being the possible exception). Case in point: the framing of the camera on the police lineup that fails to account for Rocket Racoon’s extreme shortness and Groot’s extreme heigth. Well, that, and the end of the trailer is set to “Hooked on a Feeling” by Blue Swede. And the fact that Star Lord carries a Walkman. A tape deck Walkman.

Don’t get me wrong, it looks like there’s going to be plenty of action. But there are a lot of movies that have impressive action. What Guardians of the Galaxy by its very nature promises is the potential for characters that are fun enough to make us care about the action – something that is all too rare.

The trailer does leave a few things shrouded in mystery – we’ve yet to see Glenn Close as Commander Rael or Lee Pace as Ronan the Accuser. We also haven’t heard Bradley Cooper or Vin Diesel give voice to Rocket Raccoon or Groot, respectively, but hey, we’ve still got a few months to go.